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Police officers speak with the victim of a hit-and-run incident involving a pickup truck and a bicycle Thursday afternoon just north of S.E. 3rd and Quincy. (Phil Anderson/The Capital-Journal)

Police on Thursday afternoon were looking for the driver of a red Dodge pickup truck they said intentionally struck a bicycle rider in downtown Topeka, then drove away from the scene.

The incident occurred about 12:50 p.m. Thursday at S.E. 3rd and Quincy and followed an apparent disturbance at the Let’s Help soup kitchen, 200 S. Kansas Ave. Police said someone may have pulled a knife during the disturbance at Let’s Help, though no injuries were reported.

The bicycle rider told responding police officers that he was traveling south in the 200 block of S.E. Quincy — about a block south and east of Let’s Help — when the southbound pickup truck drove over a curb and struck him on purpose.

Police said the man was knocked off his bicycle, and the pickup truck drove away from the scene. Police said the victim apparently knew the person who was driving the pickup truck.

Three police officers were talking to the victim, along with another man and a woman at the scene, which occurred on the west side of the 200 block of S.E. Quincy.

Police officer Brian Mooney said the bicycle rider was “banged up,” but he refused medical treatment at the scene.

The man who was injured was seen limping as he walked under his own power to the Law Enforcement Center, located south across S.E. 3rd Street from where the incident occurred.

The victim was able to speak with police detectives at the Law Enforcement Center regarding the incident, which police at the scene said was being investigated as an aggravated battery.

A short time after the incident, police were reported to have pulled over a red Dodge pickup truck in the 1200 block of N. Kansas Avenue, but it wasn’t the vehicle that was involved in the hit-and-run incident.

Anyone with information may call police detectives at (785) 368-9400 or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at (785) 234-0007.

Contact Phil Anderson at (785) 295-1195 or follow live reports @Philreports on Twitter. Like him on Facebook at facebook.com/philreports.tcj/.